Origins of Psychology

• What is introspection?

  • the first systematical attempt to study the mind by breaking down the conscious awareness into thoughts, images and feelings.
  • study of the mind by breaking it down into structures such as feelings and thoughts
• What was Wundt's contribution to psychology?

  • opened the first ever lab dedicated to psychology where he used introspection
  • studied the mind under controlled conditions
  • used standardised procedures - breaking up mental processes
  • wrote the father of physiological psychology book
• what is structuralism?

  • isolating the structure of the conscious awareness
• What is the strengths of Wundt's research?

  • One strength is that all of his methods were very scientific. This is because his methods were always controlled and extraneous variables were also controlled. This meant his research was standardised
• What is a limitation of Wundt's research?

  • One limitation is that some of his methods were unscientific. This is because he relied on PPS to self report in order to use introspection. This could produce social desirability bias.